


Don't Worry, I'll Be There

by TreasureHwa



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Angst, College AU, EVERYONE IS WHIPPED, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kim Hongjoong is Whipped, M/M, Minor Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Minor Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Not Beta Read, Park Seonghwa is Whipped, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Soft Kim Hongjoong, all the aus, angst mostly flashbacks, coffee shop AU, hongjoong and jongho are brothers, hongjoong best boy, hongjoong is pretty much his parent tho, jongho is an actual child, model seonghwa, seonghwa also best boy, seongjoong, will add more tags, woosan and yungi chaotic, yeosang is chilling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:49:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23077327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TreasureHwa/pseuds/TreasureHwa
Summary: Hongjoong has had a rough life and had to overcome many obstacles, and certain family situations have left him as the legal guardian to his four year old brother Jongho. Hongjoong is able to balance college, work and caring for his younger brother with help from his friends, and even though he receives immense support from them, when a fellow student and part time model named Park Seonghwa enters his life things get just a little bit easier. A story about gaining a purpose, falling in love and overcoming the past together.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	1. Lost & Found

Hongjoong didn't usually bring his younger brother, Jongho, with him to his college classes. The 4 year old would usually be watched by one of his close friends or brought to a daycare for the day. However today was an anomaly, San, who was supposed to watch Jongho today woke up sick. Hongjoong received a phone call from his friend, as he was getting both himself and jongho ready, apologizing profusely for his last minute inability to babysit. Wooyoung, Sans’ boyfriend, was also unavailable because of school, his friend Yeosang had a modeling job that would likely last him the whole day so he wasn’t an option either. He wouldn’t be able to get Jongho to his usual daycare without missing his first class, so that’s how he found himself walking hand in hand with his little brother through the streets of the city. They reached the campus and Hongjoong momentarily stopped and scooped Jongho up into his arms as the young boy giggled. 

“Okay Jongho we’re gonna have a fun day at school today right? You remember what I told you?” Hongjoong asked with a soft smile while holding the boy so their faces were right in front of each other. Jongho nodded vigorously at his brothers’ questions.

“Yup! We sit nice and quietly during class and I make sure I always stay with Hongjoong” Jongho beamed at his brother seemingly proud of the fact that he remembered the school rules Hongjoong had recited to him earlier. 

“Ah so smart, I would think you’re the college student.” with a light laugh Hongjoong placed Jongho back on the ground and ruffled his hair affectionately before intertwining their hands once again. It wasn’t the first time Jongho had accompanied Hongjoong to his school but the older always liked to go over the basic rules nonetheless “Come on buddy we don’t wanna be late” and with that they walked happily towards the building of Hongjoongs’ class.

They sat side by side in the lecture room, Jongho scribbling on paper with some crayons while Hongjoong hurriedly took down notes from his business professor. Hongjoongs professors knew that he was the legal guardian of his younger brother, so on these rare occasions Hongjoong would come to class with Jongho in tow the professors never usually questioned the circumstances, especially since the young boy was always well behaved. The class went on as usual and as it came to an end Hongjoong remember he wanted to ask his professor for an extension on their upcoming paper, between his classes, job and caring for his brother, the twenty four hours within a day weren’t enough for Hongjoong, all he needed was a few extra days in order to complete his assignment. He knew the professor was fond of him and would most likely grant him the extension but he figured he’d asked anyway. 

“Hey, I’m gonna go ask the teacher something, I’ll be super quick, stay right here” as Hongjoong spoke Jonghos eyes never left the paper he was still drawing all over and the acknowledgment Hongjoong received that his brother had heard was a small mumble of “mhm”. The other students began packing up their belongings to leave the room. 

Hongjoong ended up speaking to the professor for a couple minutes, his extension was approved, and then the professor proceeded to make small talk with Hongjoong, making sure he was doing okay this semester, and reminded him he could always reach out. They bid farewell to one another and as Hongjoong turned around his stomach dropped. He was met by a hauntingly empty classroom, the seat where Jongho was sitting was now vacant. He quickly scanned the rest of the room for his brother but was met with nothing. He quickly turned back to his professor, asking him if he happened to see Jongho leave the class. As the professor shook his head Hongjoong grabbed all his belongings and rushed out of the room to search for his brother, his professor shouted after him that he would keep an eye out. Hongjoong was definitely panicking as this wasn't a situation he usually found himself in since Jongho virtually never wandered off.

Jongho wasn’t paying attention to whatever Hongjoong had told him, as he was very immersed in the art he was creating on the paper in front of him. He eventually began to notice students around him leaving and saw Hongjoong in the front of the class talking with the teacher. Since most of the students were leaving Jongho decided to pack up his crayons and drawings into the little backpack Hongjoong had brought for him and make his way out of the classroom to wait for his brother there, but four year olds are rather curious and eventually Jongho found himself wandering further and further away from the classroom. It was once he ended up in a seemingly empty part of the college building he began to feel scared. Tears began welling up in the the young boys eyes as he realized he was lost and didn’t remember which direction he had come from. 

Seonghwa currently had a break between his classes. He usually would spend this free time in one of the usually desolate computer labs at the far end of the building to study in. He was walking his usual route to the lab when he noticed a small crying boy in the hall who was looking around confused as if he was lost. The two made eye contact and Seonghwa quickly made his way to the boy and sank to the ground so that they’d be eye level with one another.

“Hey there, what’s wrong? Are you okay” Seonghwa asked the child, with one hand hovering over his shoulder but not touching. The boy sniffled a bit and brought his sleeve to his face to wipe his eyes and nose.

“I’m lost” the boy responded meekly “I-I was in class with my brother but I don’t know how to get back” Seonghwa responded to the boy with a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure he’s looking for you, do you want me to help you find him?” the boy nodded quickly. Seonghwa then stood up and reached his hand out towards the boy, who grabbed it in return. “My names Seonghwa, what’s yours?” Seonghwa didn’t have a lot of experience with children but he was doing his best to try and keep the boy comfortable.

“Jongho” 

“Nice to meet you Jongho, now your brother what's his name? What does he look like?” Seonghwa didn’t want to bombard the boy with too many questions at once but knowing who Jonghos’ brother is would be a big help.

“Hongjoong, he has red hair” Seonghwa nodded and Jongho tightened his grip on his hand as Seonghwa began to walk towards the the south wing of the building. That was usually the most crowded area of the school at this time of the day since a majority of morning classes were held there and Seonghwa figured that there was a high chance that’s where Jonghos’ brother would be looking for him. The two continued to walk hand in hand through the hallways, mostly in silence aside from a few sniffles here and there from Jongho. Seonghwa hoped he was able to reunite Jongho to his brother on his own, if he was unable to that would mean a long trek to the campus security and he knew sometimes police could be intimidating to young children. 

They walked past a few classrooms and crowds of people when they suddenly heard someone call out for Jongho from behind them. The pair turned around to see a frantic looking red head quickly maneuvering through people to get to them. When he reach them he dropped to his knees in front of Jongho relieved tears spilling from his eyes

“I’m sorry Hongjoong, don’t be mad, i didn’t mean-” Jongho was cut off by Hongjoong enveloping him into a tight hug.

“Buddy I’m not mad, I was just super worried” Hongjoong sighed and released Jongho from the hug and wiped his own tears “just promise me you won't wander off again ok” Jongho nodded vigorously. Hongjoong then remembered that Jongho was being accompanied by a black haired man around his age, who seemed to be the one responsible for bringing Jongho back to him. Holding Jonghos’ hand he quickly stood up and faced the man bowing his head at him “Thank you so so much for helping him, I’m so sorry if we inconvenienced you at all, is there anything I can do to repay you?” Hongjoong said quickly and looked up at the man sincerely. 

“Ah, don’t worry about it, I just did what anyone would do.” Seonghwa smiled at Hongjoong to try and convey his own sincerity. 

“Please there has to be something I can do for you” and like a lightbulb going off in his head Hongjoong answered his own question looking Seonghwa in the eyes “listen I work at the coffee shop on the corner of the street, I’ll be there tomorrow at five until they close, it’s not at all enough to repay you, but stop in and I’ll give you whatever, on the house” he then took out a piece of paper and scribbled on it quickly handing it to Seonghwa “That’s my number, my name’s Hongjoong by the way, thank you so much again I hope I’ll see you tomorrow”

“My names Seonghwa, I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow” he replied with a smile as he took the piece of paper from Hongjoongs’ hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! I have more planned for this story so let me know what you all think so far! Hongjoong and Seonghwa is really the cutest ship, and baby Jongho has my whole heart. There will be further developments into the characters pasts eventually and things will get a little heavier so just a warning. Leave kudos and some comments, thanks again mwah~


	2. On The House

Seonghwa had just got off from work and began walking towards the cafe Hongjoong had told him worked at. Seonghwa worked as a model, taking up jobs when his school schedule would allow. He just finished a shoot for an upcoming line of clothes from one of the brands he often modeled for. It was about 6pm when he finished shooting for the day, the location of the job was only about a 10 minute walk from the shop Hongjoong works at. It was early spring so the weather was still somewhat chilly yet nice enough for the walk to be enjoyable. 

As he walked he thought about the boy he was on his way to meet. He’s seen him around campus before, his ever changing hairstyles and unique fashion was something that made him stand apart from most of the other students. Seonghwa also remembers last year he shared a class with Hongjoong, the latter would seem to only show up for tests and rush out the doors as soon as paper was handed in, making their interaction yesterday the first time the two had actually spoken to each other. To be honest Seonghwa was surprised, even from their short exchange the day before he felt as though Hongjoongs’ personality was different from what he had expected based on his appearance. With his dyed hair, multiple piercings and tendency to seem to avoid interactions with people in class and just miss class altogether, Seonghwa expected him to be someone cold and uncaring. However watching the clear worry dissipate from his face as he reunited with his brother, and the genuine smile he sent seonghwa as he thanked, made him realize how wrong his initial thoughts on the boy most likely were, and that there was probably much more to Hongjoong that he had thought.

Seonghwa made it to the small coffee shop, on the corner of his university's street, bells softly ringing as he entered to alert the employees of a customer. Once inside it was easy to spot Hongjoong, standing behind the counter smiling kindly at an older woman as he handed her a coffee. As the woman left the counter to sit down Hongjoong turned to the door, he beamed at Seonghwa as they made eye contact, waving to the black haired boy. Seonghwa waved back with a small smile and began to walk over to the counter 

“Hi Seonghwa, I’m so glad you came!” Hongjoong said excitedly. He was wearing his usual work outfit, which consisted of a white button down shirt with his name tag, light blue skinny jeans, typical black converse, and a beige apron tied around his waist “What can I get for you?” 

Seonghwa looked up at the menu board hanging on the wall behind Hongjoong. He wasn’t the biggest fan of coffee, as he didn’t really like things that are bitter. Even though it was nice outside his hands were still a little cold from the walk over so he decided on getting something warm.

“I’ll take a hot chocolate extra whipped cream” Hongjoong nodded and told the boy to go sit down and he’d bring it over to him once it was ready before turning away from the counter to begin preparing his drink. Seonghwa sat at one of the two person tables in the back of the cafe closest to the window. As he waited he admired the cute shop, the walls were adorned with white fairy lights and framed photographs of their city that looked like they were all taken by the same person. There were multiple house plants scattered throughout the store that looked well cared for. As far as seating the cafe had tables and booths for all different sized groups, two couches in the opposite corner of the store, as well bar-like seating for people who might have come by themselves. Seonghwa thought about how if he had known about this place earlier he would have often found himself there to study between work and school. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed that the redhead was coming over with a tray in hand. 

“One hot chocolate with extra whipped cream” Hongjoong said as he placed the mug in front of Seonghwa. “Also it’s not too busy at the moment and I'm due my break anyway so I figured I could keep you company if you don’t mind, I brought us some cake too” he said softly with a bright smile. Seonghwa decided Hongjoongs’ calm yet personable demeanor fit the cafe very well.

“I’d like that” Seonghwa responded as he picked up the mug to take a sip of his drink. Hongjoong pulled out the other chair sitting across from Seonghwa. “This is really good, thank you”

“Like I said this is the least I could do for you” Hongjoong stated “I really owe you for helping Jongho, he’s usually super well behaved when he has to tag along to school with me so I’ve never lost him like that before, so I was kind of panicking” he said with an awkward laugh.

“It was no trouble, I couldn’t just leave him there” Seonghwa smiled sincerely at the redhead “So do you have to bring Jongho to school with you often?” he asked, curious.

“I try to avoid it if I can. I became his legal guardian last year after our mother passed away and our dad wasn’t really fit for raising a child” he shrugged and continued “Sometimes I bring him to daycare but that gets expensive. My friends help out a lot though too since our schedules don’t overlap too much, my friend Yeosang is actually watching him now.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to pry” Seonghwa said, trying to convey his sympathy, and Hongjoong assured him there was nothing to be sorry for his expression brightening once again. “Also just wondering this friend of yours, he wouldn’t happen to be Kang Yeosang would he?” Hongjoong tilted his head to the side

“Yeah that's him, do you know him?”

“We work together, we met doing one of our shoots together”

“So you’re a model too? That makes a lot sense” realizing what he had just said Hongjoongs expression turned horrified and his cheeks reddened “And I just said that outloud, I just mean you, and Yeosang too, definitely have the looks to be a model” he said quickly flustered.

“Thank you” Seonghwa said giggling a light dusting pink creeping onto his own cheeks. “I will say though I am surprised we are talking about the same Yeosang, we’ve been friends for a while and he never struck me as the babysitting type” 

“He isn’t, Jongho loves him though” Hongjoong let out a sigh “I think Yeosang lets him break almost every rule I have ever made when he’s at his apartment” he chuckled softly. “Don’t get me wrong though, he’s responsible when he needs to be and he’s saved me multiple times, I don’t know what I would do without him.”

“Yeah that one hundred percent sounds like him” Seonghwa smirked. “I’m surprised we haven’t met before since we both seem to have known him for a while” Hongjoong nodded in agreement

“I think you were in my history lecture last semester, if I remember correctly?”

“I was, I’m surprised you remembered”

“Yeah I kinda missed every single class almost huh?” Hongjoong was laughing and Seonghwa joined him “I still somehow managed to pass though and that’s what counts”

“I always noticed you when you did show up, I wanted to introduce myself to you but you always seemed like you were rushing around, I guess I know why now”

“Yeah I was, I’m now rushing around slightly less” Their conversation was flowing easily now “But hey I guess it all works out in the end, here we are now”

“Yeah,” Seonghwa said looking at Hongjoong. Taking in his bright dyed hair with the tiniest of black roots showing at the top, his ears which each held multiple and unique piercings, his bright smile that revealed all his teeth, that was a contradiction to how he initially thought of the boy. He came to the realization that he found Hongjoong attractive, he had since he first saw the shorter walk into their shared lecture, but he also was realizing that he also had a great personality as well, and call him cheesy, but he could feel butterflies in his stomach “here we are.”

Just then the bell on the front door of the shop rang through the store as another customer walked in. Hongjoong looked to the counter, seeing that his manager, who he calls Eden, was busy making someone else’s drink he let out a sigh, pushing his chair away from the table and standing up.

“I should probably get back over there” Seonghwa would almost say that Hongjoong sounded mildly disappointed. “Seonghwa, it was great getting to talk to you. I enjoyed it” Seonghwa nodded in agreement. “If you’re free I work again on friday, pretty much the whole day, if you wanted to stop in it would be drinks on the house again, only if you wanted though” he rushed to say.

“I think I would really enjoy that” He felt the the feeling in his stomach grow “I should have some free time friday, I’ll stop in”

“Okay cool sounds like a plan then, I’ll see you friday. You still have my number right? Feel free to uh text me, have a goodnight Seonghwa” 

“You too Hongjoong”

The two boys smiled at each other and Hongjoong gather the plates and cups that were now empty and brought them behind the register with him and deposited them into the sink to be eventually washed. Seonghwa lingered at the table for a few more moments watching Hongjoong politely help the man who had just walked in. Gathering his things Seonghwa walked out of the coffee shop, he took one last look at the sign that read “Utopia Cafe” and smiling to himself decided friday was a day he was really looking forward to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so soft for seongjoong, they are my babies. Slowly but surely all the characters will be introduced and they will start playing a bigger role on the story. Also idk if its clear but Hongjoongs overall appearance and aesthetic is kinda a punk vibe and Seonghwa has been lowkey whipped since day 1. I hope everyone is enjoying the read so far, there is more to come, thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! I have more planned for this story so let me know what you all think so far! Hongjoong and Seonghwa is really the cutest ship, and baby Jongho has my whole heart. There will be further developments into the characters pasts eventually and things will get a little heavier so just a warning. Leave kudos and some comments, thanks again mwah~


End file.
